No net tax increases – threshold increases will take more people out of the income tax system, which is likely to be offset by a hit on pension relief

Political pressure to stimulate growth

Despite agreeing that this year’s budget is going to be one of the most boring on record, Richard still argues that the next month or so Budget is not a time to put out the message, “nothing to report”. Quite the opposite, he argues. "You do have something to say, and you do have an opinion, and as the opportunity to reinforce your credentials at this time is significant you have not had a better time in some years to leverage this opportunity."

Have Robinson and Sergeant got it right? And what are the issues you would highlight for your business clients? We'll be returning to this discussion closer to Budget time to help guide our own coverage of the measures that do emerge.